Been hearing horror stories from new students about the price theyre paying for instruction. Today heard $350/hr for a C152. That can't be real?
How much are free lance instructors getting per hour and hows the demand?

Well I have heard a second hand anecdote of a similar price at a flying school. Though it was a dishonest instructor taking additional cash from a student over and above the schools price of about $100/hr. I heard this from the so called student and suggest that this was not a good route for you or anyone else. If this was my instructor I would certainly have words with him or her if not put them out on their ear! That is totally dishonest and wrong!

200hr Wonder wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2019 2:54 pm Well I have heard a second hand anecdote of a similar price at a flying school. Though it was a dishonest instructor taking additional cash from a student over and above the schools price of about $100/hr. I heard this from the so called student and suggest that this was not a good route for you or anyone else. If this was my instructor I would certainly have words with him or her if not put them out on their ear! That is totally dishonest and wrong!

I can see this happening. There have been a few students over the years upon whom I would have levied a surcharge to compensate for the above average mental wear and tear they caused me, (if you are student of mine that can connect my call sign here to my real name, then you were not one of the students to whom said surcharge would have applied). I guess today’s hot market is allowing instructors to take advantage for once.

I know in some areas where there's a few freelance instructors to choose from, the guys charge $35-50/ hour. I'm the only one within a couple hundred kilometres, so I charge $60, but that's what my free time is worth to me. I charge that rate for everything, but some instructors charge more for advanced instruction (multi/ifr). A friend of mine teaches aerobatics at $80-$90/hour depending on the complexity of the plane.

In a capitalist society, prices rise to what the market will bear. Schools around here are quoting 1 year wait times for PPL courses. An available instructor can almost dictate their own salary.

I teach IFR part time at $110 an hour, minimum 2 hour charge. So far I've had 3 clients decline as soon as they found out the price, then call me back within a couple weeks full of apologies and ready to go. I'm starting to think I'm undercharging.

350$\hour seen excessive but on freelance, i'm charging 70$\hour plus gas if i need to do more than 30 minutes of road.

Of that $350, $200 is AC wet, $150 instructor which I'm sure the school takes a healthy chunk. I'm thinking of renewing my rating and doing it part time for cash. Just a thought as OT is worth waaaaay more but I enjoyed instructing back in the day and I think I'd like it more now and have a lot more to offer.

KAG wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:39 pm Of that $350, $200 is AC wet, $150 instructor which I'm sure the school takes a healthy chunk. I'm thinking of renewing my rating and doing it part time for cash. Just a thought as OT is worth waaaaay more but I enjoyed instructing back in the day and I think I'd like it more now and have a lot more to offer.

This could be a best case scenario for the industry if more experienced pilots came back and instructed on the side. I wonder if a group of airline guys could get into instructing together with a 2-5 plane little school and market the experience of instructors.

Only if T.C. drops the requirement to get and hold a F.T.U. O.C.

I'm a freelance Class I in Alberta, and everything people are saying in this thread...I have seen. There is one particular flight school I know of that charges $367.00/FH, and does NOT include the instructor. I know this because I was CFI there for all of 2 months before the threads started unraveling. I started freelancing because I was sick of the blatant attempts to feed off of the generalized ignorance of the bright-eyed PPL. I wanted to offer people an option to get a license without getting bent over the FTU barrel, with no nonsense. Don't get me wrong, there are some good Class IV/III instructors out there, but what people want are instructors with experience actually teaching. They want someone who knows the syllabus inside-out, and can get them done a license in 1/4 of the time an FTU can. If the student can find it, they'll gladly pay them more money as a result.

I've been freelancing roughly full time, on my days off from my full time job, for about 3 years. The general consensus is people are starting to realize the same thing about FTUs. There is such a demand for freelance instructors that I am now considering expanding my operations into BC and Saskatchewan. One of my instructor students who is now instructing on the BC coast tells me that there isn't even enough examiners, let alone instructors to do these licenses. They are experiencing a different kind of bottle neck there, with the same end result.

Bottom line, IMHO there is a massive demand for freelance instructors. If said instructor can convince the little-knowing PPL student that there are other options other than the FTU, don't be an asshole, and do good work, a person could easily make a livable wage as an entrepreneur freelancing.

How many pre-PPL students own their own plane and so can legally train with an independent instructor? Not many.

photofly wrote: ↑Wed Jul 31, 2019 6:02 pm How many pre-PPL students own their own plane and so can legally train with an independent instructor? Not many.

Now this was 20+ years ago but at 2 different schools I taught at we had freelance instructors. They pay for plane, it's a bonus draw for the school

20 years ago insuring that kind of arrangement might have been straightforward.

photofly wrote: ↑Wed Jul 31, 2019 6:02 pm How many pre-PPL students own their own plane and so can legally train with an independent instructor? Not many.

Probably more than you think though. All of the freelancers I know are doing as much training as they are willing to do. I constantly get propositioned to take on students.

I have two clients with their own aircraft looking for PPL instructors. We can't find them at any price.

A good rule is to charge the same rate as the flight school is charging plus travel expenses, if a lot of driving is involved, and make sure your insured on the owners aircraft, to give dual instruction, rates may vary depending on the aircraft as well, giving a float rating on a hot Cessna 185 an instructor could ask for more, or a tail-dragger aircraft,

photofly wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 8:39 am 20 years ago insuring that kind of arrangement might have been straightforward.

I've never seen it being an issue on certified airplanes. The premium isn't even that much higher. My friends with a Citabria on floats/skis were paying $2200/yr and all they had were a SPP.

I did a seaplane rating on a multi engine amphib and insurance made ridiculous requirements, which is understandable I guess.

Lots of people in my neck of the woods by an airplane (or 2) and then try to find a freelancer.

redlaser wrote: ↑Mon Aug 05, 2019 11:24 am A good rule is to charge the same rate as the flight school is charging plus travel expenses,

A good rule is to charge what your time is worth.

rookiepilot wrote: ↑Mon Aug 05, 2019 1:39 pm

redlaser wrote: ↑Mon Aug 05, 2019 11:24 am A good rule is to charge the same rate as the flight school is charging plus travel expenses,

A good rule is to charge what your time is worth.

A better rule is to charge what it’s worth, plus a 30% markup.